pregnancy/c section post birth exercises?

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stephm112
stephm112 Posts: 297 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hiya

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of any safe exercises I can do soon after a c section? It'll be an elective c section as I had complications during my first labour that resulted in an emergency cs, and I've heard that recovery can be better with an elective. I'm engaged so will be on wedding body mode as soon as I feel well enough. With 2 small children I doubt I'll be able to get to the gym for a while so if anyone knows of any dvds or work outs specific for cs recovery that would be greart.

I'm still pregnant at the moment and suffering with SPD already, however I'm waiting for the Erin O'Brian pregnancy dvd to arrive so will give that a go to see if I can manage it.

Thanks in advance!

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  • TheGnomeQueen
    TheGnomeQueen Posts: 43
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    Anything with your arms. Walking. I couldn't really get that hardcore for about 6 months because I always felt twinges of pain and didn't want to end up back in the hospital. Your body will heal itself and you will know. Everyone is different.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    be really, really careful after a c-section.... I've had 2, second time around a colleague who was a former physiotherapist gave me advice on how to get back into exercise again. I got back relatively quickly, but seriously you have to give your body time to heal. Ask your doc/midwife/pregnancy care provider for information about how to get back into exercise safely, and if possible, get a referral to a physio.

    SPD really, truly sucks... but gentle exercise can help with it. A physio may be able to help give advice on that. with me, it mostly went away pretty quickly after giving birth, but I occasionally got twinges in the front and back of my pelvis for quite a while when doing certain exercises. But exercise has helped, as it strengthens the muscles around the pelvis, which helps to stabilise the joints. But please do take advice from a physio, not random people on the internet. You don't want to injure yourself, and a c-section is major surgery. You must give your body time to heal.
  • stephm112
    stephm112 Posts: 297 Member
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    Thanks ladies. Last time I did heal relatively quickly considering, however I didn't do any exercise.
    I've asked my midwives and doctors about physio but the waiting lists over here are ridiculous so it's unlikely I'll get seen. I will definitely not be pushing myself because I don't want to get injured before I've even started, but if there are gentle exercises I can do, obviously I won't be going mental on a cross trainer and doing boxercise.

    After my last pregnancy I was still totally unaware of fitness and diet etc so didn't bother doing anything for months! The first kind of Proper exercise I did was 30ds nearly a year later. Unfortunately I won't have a year to wait as my wedding will be about 9 months later
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Walking is fine, and pram/stroller pushing is fine so long as it's not uphill. <-- advice I was given for the early days of recovery. It's hard to say when you can move on to more strenuous exercise. Does the hospital have any handouts or leaflets with information about safe, gentle exercises after a c-section?

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